Man fatally shoots his brother

Friday

Dec 28, 2012 at 11:34 AMDec 29, 2012 at 5:42 PM

A fatal shooting that occurred Friday morning between two brothers.

By Jason GonzalesJason.Gonzales@StarNewsOnline.com

Wilmington police are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred Friday morning between two brothers.Ali Akbar Dastmalchi, 65, called 911 at 12:43 a.m. and said he had shot his 63-year-old brother, Vahid Dastmalchi. When officers arrived at the house the brothers share at 5210 Hunter's Trail, the elder Dastmalchi told them he went to the front door with his handgun after he heard glass breaking, according to a police news release.When Ali Dastmalchi opened the front door, the release says, he "saw someone lunging at him with a spiked object in his hand." He fired one shot, hitting the person in the chest. He then realized the person was his brother, the release says.The brother was taken to New Hanover Regional Medical Center, where he later died.Police did not file charges in the case on Friday. In the a recording of the 911 call, Ali Dastmalchi, speaking with a thick accent, tells the dispatcher that his brother had been shot. "He attacked ... with garden tool and had to defend myself," he says.Although parts of the 911 audio recording are unintelligible, he never tells the dispatcher he didn't know the attacker was his brother. He repeatedly asks where emergency medical responders are.At one point, the dispatcher asks, "Where was he shot?""I think on the right side, on his chest," Ali Dastmalchi says. "Please send police dispatch, somebody."He describes his brother as unconscious and gurgling."I shot him because he had sharp garden tool," he says."You shot him?" a dispatcher asks. "Why did you shoot him, sir?""I can't answer those questions right now, the police ... tell story ...," he says. "Is EMT close by? Any sign of them?"He adds later in the tape, "He charged with sharp garden tool. He threw things at me. I then opened door to see what's going on, and he charged me."Once the police arrive, he is cooperative and tells them where the gun is. He then can be heard telling the officers what happened.On Friday, the house was quiet. A knock on the door of the brick house with beige siding went unanswered. Neighbors declined to talk to reporters.Under North Carolina law, people have the right to use deadly force or "defensive force" if they hold a "reasonable fear of imminent death or serious bodily harm in their homes, on the property immediately surrounding their homes where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy, in a vehicle or in their workplaces."If someone is a threat and has entered any of the places noted in North Carolina's law, it is presumed that the intruder is "doing so with the intent to commit an unlawful act involving force or violence," the law states, meaning a person can use reasonable force if they feel they are in imminent fear of deadly harm.Changes to the law in 2011 eliminated the duty to retreat and provided protection from criminal and civil liability.